Likely Suspects
by GrellSutcliffeTheRipper
Summary: There is always something interesting happening in the host club but the Hitachiin twins decide to push their favourite toy into the claws of the Shadow King, all in the name of entertainment.


**A/N:** Planning on this being a short one, just to get me back into the swing before continuing with Nine Unread Messages. Enjoy!~

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"Ha-ru-hi!" Two sing song voices floated through the crowded yet near silent library. Their footsteps were light as they traipsed towards me and I buried my nose further into the book cradled in my arms. I could feel their breath ghost against the skin of my neck before I saw them and nimble fingers latched onto my arms to yank me out of the book and back into reality. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I made a feeble attempt to brush them off.

"No."

Both stumbled in mock hurt, "But-"

"No way," I refused to make eye contact with them. Their feline eyes flashed with mischief and accepted the challenge I was silently and unintentionally providing them with.

They slumped into the seat on either side of me, pouts firmly set in their thin lips. "You don't even know what we were gonna say!"

"I don't need to know _what_ you were going to say, just the fact that it'll be trouble," I glanced at both of the troublesome twins. They were leaning forward, assessing my every move. It left me feeling incredibly self-conscious under their scrutinising stare.

"But it'll be fun!" They sang in delight, trying to entice me out of my books and into whatever convoluted plan they had cooked up this time. "Promise!"

Another sigh. "No. Now I need to study."

For a minute, I was left in silence once again. Unfortunately I knew all too well that it wasn't to last and I made note of the page number of the book and filed it away in my mind for later. Hikaru leant forward, leering at me with a raised eyebrow. "You know, Kaoru. I think Haruhi wants rid of us!"

"Really?" Kaoru crowed. "I thought she said she wanted us to sit here and annoy her-"

Both redheads pulled in close, noses nuzzling my ears. Their words were airy but heavy with promise. "All. Day. Long."

"What do you want?" I slumped back in my chair, resigning myself to the fact that my study time will just have to be postponed for the time being.

"Well-" Kaoru started, draping an arm lazily around my shoulders.

Hikaru mimicked his brother and let his fingers trace the collar of my blazer. "Have you noticed that a certain Shadow King has been extra grouchy lately?"

I let the twins close proximity fade from my mind and rewind back through my vague memories of the past few days. They had been a blur of pale yellow dresses, cups of instant coffee and textbooks. With a small amount of concentration I managed to dredge up faint images of the silent and efficient second year hidden away at the back of the host club, angrily tapping away at his laptop. How it hadn't occurred to me before, I couldn't say. "Now that you mention it…"

"See! I wasn't imagining things, Hikaru!" Kaoru smiled smugly.

Hikaru crossed his arms tightly across his chest and looked away, a faint pink staining his porcelain skin. "Whatever."

"What about it?" I paused my minds assessment of my minimal interactions with the Shadow King over the last week and returned to the twins with a small amount of suspicion.

The brothers smiled wickedly, "When Kyoya-senpai is ticked off, it means less fun for us."

"I mean, have you ever suffered his demon glare?" Hikaru shuddered.

"Scary stuff." The three of us nodded in unison.

"But what has this got to do with me?"

Kaoru edged closer to me, pout firmly in place. "Each time we try to talk to him he goes into Shadow King mode."

"And Tono only ever manages to infuriate him at the best of times," the other twin stately matter-of-factly.

"And?" I sighed.

"Mori isn't much of a talker."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," I muttered under my breath. They chuckled briefly before returning to their serious demeanour.

Hikaru snatched a piece of paper from the desk and began to doodle each of the host club members in stick man form. He seemed proud of his artistic portrayal of us and made a point to slowly cross out each of the aforementioned host members and decorated each character with little sad faces. "And Honey will just try to cheer him up with cake."

Kaoru snatched away the pencil and crossed out the little drawing of a cupcake with a heavy hand, "Kyoya-senpai isn't a fan of sweets."

"I see where this is going," I grumbled and shoved the paper away from me.

"Please cheer him up!" They cried in unison, latching onto me in desperation and sobbed loudly as they nuzzled their faces into my sleeves.

With several vigorous shakes, they were pried off and left in a heap on the floor. I could feel the eyes of the surrounding students boring into us and I remembered we were in the middle of a rather busy library. In a low voice, I hissed at the brothers, "How am I supposed to do that?!"

"We don't know! Just do it! And soon!" They demanded. "Then hosting can go back to being fun!"

Their whiny tones assaulted my ears, "And we can get back to abusing Tono."

"Should've known that'd be your motivation." I observed the slight malevolence that tainted their glistening amber eyes as they continued to act out on either side of me. Usually their dramatic antics had the ability to humour me, from time to time of course, but not when they were disturbing what little free time I could squeeze in between classes.

"C'mon!" They whined even louder. I clutched at my ears and glared darkly at the sulking pair.

"Fine. But I doubt I'll do any better than either of you have." They leapt up instantly, clinging to me with gleeful smiles and victory cheers. Their enthusiasm was infectious but I tried hard not to let it show on my face.

"You might surprise yourself," they crooned. The two redheads danced their way out of the library eliciting a relieved sigh from the more hardworking of the students that were attempting to cram for their next big exam. I watched them leave in a daze; my mind whirled and tried to build a plan of action to approach the dreaded Shadow King but came up blank.


End file.
